Wines of Portugal Madeira Part I: An Overview

The roots of Madeira's wine industry dates back to the Age of Exploration when Madeira was a regular port of call for ships traveling to the New World and East Indies. By the 16th century, records indicate that a well-established wine industry on the island was able to supply these ships with wine for the long voyages across the sea. The earliest examples of Madeira, like port, were unfortified and had the habit of spoiling at sea. Following the example of port, a small amount of distilled alcohol made from cane sugar was added to stabilize the wine by boosting the alcohol content. (The modern process of fortification using brandy did not become widespread till the 18th century). The Dutch East India Company became a regular customer, picking up large (112 gal/423 l) casks of wine known as pipes for their voyages to India. The intense heat and constant movement of the ships had a transforming effect on the wine, as discovered by Madeira producers when one shipment returned back to the island after a long trip. It was found that customers preferred the taste of this style of wine, and Madeira labeled as vinho da roda (wines that have made a round trip) became very popular. Madeira producers found that aging the wine on long sea voyages was very costly and began to develop methods on the island to produce the same aged and heated style - typically by storing the wines in special rooms known as estufas where the heat of island sun would age the wine. -- Vintage Madeira

Situated in the North Atlantic, at the same latitude as Casablanca, Madeira is a small island – less than 35 miles (55km) across at its widest point. It is also mountainous and although it benefits from a temperate and markedly Atlantic climate, it can be very humid with instances of tropical heat and high rainfall. The volcanic soils are fertile and rich in organic and acidic matter.  Vines are trained on pergolas and are usually harvested before reaching full maturation which provides wines with very high acidity levels.  

Tinta Negra Mole is the dominant grape variety used in Madeira wine production. Its name means "black soft", and 'perhaps derives from the belief that the variety is a crossing of "black" Grenache and "soft" Pinot Noir'. The grape was brought to the island after the phylloxera epidemic. Verdelho, Sercial, Terrantez (now officially renamed as Folgasao), Bual and Malvasia. The wines were often produced as varietals and labeled with the name of their respective grape variety. The word Malvasia was eventually corrupted to the English word Malmsey, and became a byword for Madeira wines. Terrantez almost became extinct on the island, although it, along with the more prestigious varieties, is now making a gradual comeback. (wine-searcher.com)

Yet, the reasons for the island’s success as a wine region lie not in its terroir and grapes, but in the seafaring tradition described above. Regulations and traditions to emulate the sea voyage are encapsulated in the Madeira DOC.  The Estufagem process of making Madeira wine is used to produce the majority of Madeira wine today. This method involves applying deliberate heat to the wine in order to mimic the oxidation and aging that occurred during these historical sea voyages. An estufa is a stainless steel tank with heated pipes running through it and the wine is heated to 120°F (50°C) for approximately three months. At this point in the Estufagem process, the wine has aged to a similar point five years into the more traditional Canteiro method.

The Canteiro method involves aging the Madeira wine in large barrels placed on trestles (canteiros) that are stored in warehouses heated only by the sun (some producers have even installed large windows to let in as much sunshine as possible). A third method that splits the Estufagem and Canteiro methods consists of aging the barrels for between six and 12 months in an artificially heated warehouse ("armazem de calor").

Madeira wines are produced with various sweetness levels, from seco (dry) and meio seco (medium dry) to meio doce (medium sweet) and doce (sweet). The designations Reserve, Special Reserve, and Extra Reserve denote five, 10, and 15 years of aging respectively, while the Colheita ("harvest") is used to describe a wine from a single vintage. Vintage is the most expensive form of Madeira and must be from a single vintage and aged for more than 20 years prior to commercial release. Rainwater Madeira is a lighter style, popular in the United States and typically made from Tinta Negra Mole. 

Several importers poured a range of Madeira wines at a recent Wines of Portugal tasting.  Two wines that I particularly enjoyed were from Cossart Gordon & Co, established in 1745 and, according to their website, the oldest company in the Madeira wine trade. Under the name Newton, Gordon, Murdoch & Co., the company supplied the ferocious appetites of colonial Americans for Madeira. The Cossart family joined the firm in the early 19th century and with the passing of time slowly changed to the current name. Today the company operates under the umbrella of the Madeira Wine Company along with the popular Blandy's brand. 

After fermentation and fortification, the Cossart Gordon Bual 10 Years Old was aged in American oak casks in the traditional Canteiro system. "Over the years the wine is transferred from the top floors to the middle floors and eventually to the ground floor where it is cooler".  The acidity is still prevalent as it meanders through the complex composition of dried fruits, nuts, spices, and toffee. Wow. 

The Baul grape is also the single variety in the 2005 Cossart Gordon Colheita Baul. This is a single vintage wine that was produced using the Canteiro method described above for nine years in American oak. Interestingly the Baul grape is the same as Malvasia Fina, however, it is distinct from the Malvasia family of grapes used for Malvasia Madeira (Malmsey).  Bual grapes also require more heat to ripen than the other Madeira varieties, so the bulk of Bual vineyards are located in Madeira's warmer locations. This wine shows dense figs and prunes followed by vanilla and toffee then a sweetness offset of the abundant acidity. Excellent. 

Check back often as we cover more styles in detail with Rainwater Madeira in the queue. 

Fire and Roses at Salento's Cantine Cantele

During our August trip to the Salento Peninsula, our hosts organized a tour and tasting at Cantine Cantele, one of the most well-known wineries in Puglia. This was an unintended coincidence based on our post Grape Spotlight: Salice Salentino Negroamaro and review of the Cantele Riserva Salia Salento 2015.

The Cantele family first arrived in the region when Giovanni Battista visited the area and sourced grapes to sell in northern Italy. When his wife Teresa Manara accompanied Giovanni on one of his many trips she fell in love with Lecce and resettled the family in Italy's "Florence of the South". Later, their son Augusto would study winemaking and along with his brother, Domenico and Giovanni would start Cantine Cantele in 1979. Initially, they worked as consultants, and in the 1990s Augusto purchased his first vineyards and began bottling wine with the Cantele family name.  Today the third generation -- two children each from Augusto and Domenico -- have taken over the enterprise's operation and their guiding theme stresses "innovation and tradition are not enemies".  

During our visit, we were lead through a typical tour of their large operation from the pressing area to indoor and outdoor fermenting and aging tanks to their barrel room.  Definitely state-of-the-art equipment. On their pressing area, we learned about their estate harvest techniques where, because of the extreme daytime heat, the harvest begins at 3am. New vines (40%) are picked by machines as they had been planted with enough working space in between with the remaining by hand. 

The grapes are then covered in dry ice and three types of pressure are applied. The first and second presses of each grape are fermented separately whereas the third press is sent to distilleries for grappa or the seeds for grape seed oil. The white wine grape juice is inoculated with vineyard yeast and fermented on their lees. They produce two versions of Chardonnay, one with only four months on lees and pulled for bottling and the second aged one year in barrel. The Negroamaro grapes dedicated to rosé wine are given longer skin contact resulting in a fuller and darker wine. 

After the tour, we proceeded to the Cantele winery and Tasting Laboratory called iSensi. This facility opened seven years ago to showcase their wine and traditional Pugliese cuisine.  There we sampled four wines providing a general overview of their portfolio.

The first wine was their I.G.T. Salento Rohesia Malvasia Bianca where the grapes sourced from Brindisi spent three months on lees in stainless steel. The fragrance was what you would expect from this grape, brilliant floral, followed by sizzling tropical and citrus flavors. Next came the Teresa Manara Chardonnay 2020 named after the family's matriarch. Also an I.G.T. Salento wine, the estate fruit is fermentation using the first crush and is aged in barrique on lees for 8 months. A full-bodied and delicious wine with green apples, pears, and creamy depth without a buttery finish. The Rohesia Negroamar Rosato is also full-bodied from saignée free-run juice aging three months on its lees. Rohesia is an ancient form of the name "Rose" and matches the color and strawberry flavor of the wine.  Fanoi means "Fire" and the Fanoi Negroamaro 2015 ($37) fired us up to lug a bottle home with us. It is produced only during exceptional years, from 60-year-old vines grown in a single vineyard. Expect multiple herbs and spices, a creamy palate, and a lingering approachable finish.  Excellent. 

Fortunately, some of Cantele's portfolio is available in the United States, most definitely through Total Wine.  If you can visit Lecce, great, if not, explore the region through these wines. Cheers.